Morningstar

15 Top-Performing Large-Blend Funds

Funds from Vanguard, Capital Group, and Fidelity are among the best performers.

Stylebox illustration for Large Blend Funds

Large-cap blend funds are often the foundation of a stock portfolio, used by investors as proxy for the overall stock market. To screen for the top-performing funds in this key category, we looked for those with the best returns over the last one-, three-, and five-year periods. 15 made it through the screen.

  • American Funds Fundamental Investors RFNGX
  • American Funds The Investment Company of America RICGX
  • AQR Large Cap Multi-Style Fund QCERX
  • Fidelity Flex 500 Index Fund FDFIX
  • Fidelity Large Cap Stock K6 Fund FCLKX
  • iShares S&P 500 Index Fund BSPGX
  • iShares US Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF DYNF
  • iShares US Equity Factor ETF LRGF
  • JPMorgan Equity Index Fund OGFAX
  • Natixis Funds Trust I US Equity Opportunities Fund NESNX
  • Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund SWPPX
  • SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF SPLG
  • Vanguard 500 Index Fund VFFSX
  • Vanguard Growth and Income Fund VGIAX
  • Vanguard Mega Cap Index Fund VMCTX

Large-Blend Fund Performance

Over the last 12 months, large-blend funds returned 15.84%. On an annualized rate, large-blend funds have returned 22.50% over the last three years and 14.81% over the last five. That compares with the Morningstar US Market Index, which has returned 18.98% over the last 12 months, 24.60% per year over the last three years, and 15.69% per year over the last five years.

What Are Large-Blend Funds?

Large-blend portfolios are fairly representative of the overall US stock market in terms of size, growth rates, and price. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the US equity market are defined as large-cap. The blend style is assigned to portfolios where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. These portfolios tend to invest across the spectrum of US industries, and owing to their broad exposure, their returns are often similar to that of the S&P 500 Index.

Screening for the Top-Performing Large-Blend Funds

We looked at returns from the past one, three, and five years using data available in Morningstar Direct. We screened for open-ended and exchange-traded funds in the top 25% of the category using their lowest-cost primary share classes for those periods. We also filtered for funds with Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Bronze, Silver, or Gold. We excluded those with assets under $100 million and analyst coverage that was not 100%. This left 15 names.

Because the screen was created with the lowest-cost share class for each fund, some may be listed with share classes that are not accessible to individual investors outside of retirement plans, or they may be aimed at institutional investors and require large minimum investments. The individual investor versions of those funds may carry higher fees, reducing returns to shareholders. In addition, Medalist Ratings may differ among the share classes of a fund.

American Funds Fundamental Investors

Over the past 12 months, this $159.7 billion fund rose 23.00%, while the average fund in its category rose 15.84%. The fund, launched in August 1978, has climbed 27.59% over the past three years and 16.83% over the past five.

“American Funds offers three large-blend mutual fund strategies, and this strategy’s flexible mandate has often made it the most aggressive. The managers aren’t afraid to stand out from the S&P 500, and their ability to invest abroad is possibly its biggest differentiator. Indeed, its 17% allocation to non-US companies landed it in the top 5% of large-blend Morningstar Category peers as of September 2024. The managers try to limit their non-US investments to companies that have no solid equivalent US option. For example, as of September 2024, the portfolio held sizable stakes in leading semiconductor firm Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and weight-loss drug leader Novo Nordisk. This makes sense, but it has put the strategy at a disadvantage for several years. During the past five years through November 2024, the strategy has invested, on average, more than 15% of assets overseas, which accounted for a sizable portion of the fund’s underperformance relative to the index during that span as international stocks have lagged.

“After a stint of manager changes, this strategy should be set up well going forward. Since 2020, three managers retired, and the firm publicly disclosed five managers. This year, Mark Casey took over as leader of the strategy from Brady Enright, who remains the head of the Capital World Investors, or CWI, team. Casey has served as Capital International Investors, or CII, leader since 2018. While most of the eight named managers are veterans, they likely still have ample runway before potential retirements. This should bode well for more team stability going forward. With its key attributes intact, this strategy has a good shot to rebound from its recent middling performance.”

—Stephen Welch, senior analyst

American Funds Investment Company of America

Over the past 12 months, this $175.2 billion fund has gained 22.25%, while the average fund in its category is up 15.84%. The fund, launched in January 1934, has climbed 28.74% over the past three years and 17.68% over the past five.

“This strategy is supported by a capable management team with robust analytical support. Soon eight managers will helm this strategy. Firm veterans Martin Romo and Grant Cambridge oversee allocating capital to the individual managers. While experienced manager James Terrile will step off the strategy and retire from the firm June 1, 2025, veterans James Lovelace, Martin Jacobs, and Chris Buchbinder remain. Additionally, newer managers Jessica Spaly and Aline Avzaradel have more than two decades of industry experience each. Last year, the firm named up-and-comer Greg Miliotes to the management team. He has 18 years of experience at the firm. The managers are supported by a deep research team of more than 100 analysts.

“After a long stint of underperformance, Romo and Cambridge tweaked the process in 2020, steering it back to its core mandate focusing on growth of capital and income. The strategy seeks a healthy mix of dividend-payers and growth names, but it has had trouble in the past striking the right balance. To increase the managers’ flexibility, the co-heads decreased the strategy’s preyield target and expanded its eligibility list. They also added Spaly and Avzaradel to keep a healthy mix of investment styles across the team. Spaly, who used to cover top-five holding Amazon.com, likes firms with better-than-average growth prospects and durable business models, while Avzaradel favors dividend growers.

“So far, this increased flexibility has benefited investors. The strategy’s move away from a higher income target came at a poor time as 2022 rewarded high-dividend-yielding stocks relative to growth stocks, yet the strategy still held up better than the index, showing it didn’t stray too far from its roots. As growth bounced back in 2023 and 2024, the strategy outperformed the index, landing in the top quintile of its Morningstar Category in both years. It had strong picks in several sectors like Meta Platforms, Broadcom, and GE Aerospace. What’s more, as valuation has been more important in 2025’s first quarter, the strategy still held up better than the index and the typical peer.”

—Stephen Welch, senior analyst

AQR Large Cap Multi-Style Fund

This $1.3 billion fund has climbed 23.52% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 15.84%. The fund, launched in July 2014, has climbed 25.92% over the past three years and 17.40% over the past five.

“AQR Large Cap Multi-Style mimics the market’s risk profile, avoids sector- and stock-specific bets, and charges a low fee, all considerations that should help it beat its Morningstar Category benchmark long term.

“This rules-based strategy targets large- and mid-cap firms with strong value, momentum, and quality characteristics. Each receives a composite factor score, where value and momentum (40% weight apiece) weigh more than quality (20%). The fund favors stocks with the best combination of these traits, rather than those that thrive in one area but lack in others. This integrated approach helps it balance all three factors, each of which has historically been tied to market-beating performance.

“Targeting this factor trio promotes diversification. Payoffs to momentum and quality tend to be negatively correlated with the value factor and weakly correlated with each other. So, when one of the more heavily weighted factors slumps, like value did in 2024, the other can shoulder the load. Pinning stock and sector weights to the Russell 1000 Index aids diversification as well. It also ensures that the target factors steer returns—not incidental sector or stock-specific bets that lack a reliable resumé.

“This strategy aims to beat the broad market, not destroy it. It shoots for the same market sensitivity as the Russell 1000 Index and a 2.5%-3.0% tracking error against that bogy. The fund takes enough risk to recoup its fee, but it shouldn’t substantially out- or underperform the broad market benchmark over a long horizon.

“AQR’s portfolio management team trades only when it sees efficient opportunities, so trading costs shouldn’t shave too much off total returns. That is key because the fund’s momentum component forces more trading than most rules-based strategies.”

—Ryan Jackson, senior analyst

Fidelity Flex 500 Index Fund

Over the past 12 months, this $7.4 billion fund has gained 19.04%, while the average fund in its category is up 15.84%. The fund, launched in March 2017, has climbed 25.07% over the past three years and 16.40% over the past five.

iShares S&P 500 Index Fund

Over the past 12 months, this $51.9 billion fund rose 19.10%, while the average fund in its category rose 15.84%. The fund, launched in July 2019, has climbed 25.05% over the past three years and 16.40% over the past five.

JPMorgan Equity Index Fund

Over the past 12 months, this $12.4 billion fund has gained 19.06%, while the average fund in its category is up 15.84%. The fund, launched in September 2016, has climbed 25.03% over the past three years and 16.36% over the past five.

Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund

This $128.5 billion fund has climbed 19.06% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 15.84%. The Charles Schwab fund, launched in May 1997, has climbed 25.03% over the past three years and 16.38% over the past five.

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF

Over the past 12 months, this $87.1 billion ETF rose 19.09%, while the average fund in its category rose 15.84%. The State Street fund, launched in November 2005, has climbed 25.04% over the past three years and 16.40% over the past five.

Vanguard 500 Index Fund

Over the past 12 months, this $1.4 trillion fund has gained 19.10%, while the average fund in its category is up 15.84%. The Vanguard fund, launched in June 2016, has climbed 25.07% over the past three years and 16.41% over the past five.

Fidelity Large Cap Stock K6 Fund

Over the past 12 months, this $108.9 million fund has gained 25.54%, while the average fund in its category is up 15.84%. The Fidelity fund, launched in May 2017, has climbed 29.85% over the past three years and 21.89% over the past five.

“Armed with deep industry knowledge and insights from Fidelity’s sprawling team of equity analysts, manager Matt Fruhan has a fighting chance of beating the market over the long term. Since 2005, he has consistently plied a gritty approach that often embraces unloved or fundamentally challenged companies, avoids firms whose shares he thinks have been bid up by market mania, and looks for secular-growth companies whose magnitude or duration of growth is underappreciated. At the core of his bottom-up approach is the belief that the market routinely misprices companies’ earnings power over a multiyear horizon.

“Fruhan has long differentiated the strategy in recent years by holding relatively light stakes in some of the market’s largest companies, such as Apple, Nvidia, and Amazon. That has mostly been to the strategy’s disadvantage over the past decade as these and other behemoths have handily beaten the market.

“In 2024, they thrived, posing a strong headwind for the strategy’s results relative to most large-blend Morningstar Category rivals and the S&P 500. And yet, the fund’s nearly 27% return that year handily beat the category’s average and index. The portfolio’s stock-picking within healthcare and industrials has recently worked very well.

“But stock-picking is not what has primarily driven the strategy’s performance relative to the index over the longer term. Instead, more impactful have been its favored stocks’ common characteristics. One is industry or sector exposure: For example, the fund has held in place big bets on energy and banks for the better part of a decade, tethering much of its success to theirs. Another has been valuation and growth profile: Since 2018, the portfolio’s average price ratios (such as price/earnings and price/book value) and earnings-growth rate have sat well below the S&P 500’s. These features have often made the fund look and behave more like a large-value fund than its own large-blend benchmark.

“Despite stylistic headwinds, the strategy has delivered solid results versus its actively managed rivals over the long haul. It continues to be a worthy holding, despite its ebbs and flows.”

—Robby Greengold, principal

iShares US Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF

Over the past 12 months, this $27.2 billion ETF rose 22.19%, while the average fund in its category rose 15.84%. The iShares fund, launched in March 2019, has climbed 30.62% over the past three years and 18.39% over the past five.

“IShares US Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF needs more time to prove that its stellar recent performance was because of a cutting-edge strategy and not just good fortune. A strong team and low fee make it a solid choice either way.

“This systematic strategy is logical but hard to execute. It aims to carve an edge by rotating through several risk factors: value, quality, momentum, size, and low volatility. These well-vetted factors have historically been tied to market-beating performance. They succeed in cycles, though, and normally on different cadences from each other. BlackRock tries to maximize exposure to the ones on the rise and fade those in decline. Its approach to do that makes sense, but practical evidence shows that factor timing strategies rarely beat traditional cap-weighted indexes in the long run.

“The team behind this strategy is as well-equipped as any to crack the factor-timing nut. Head of factor investments Philip Hodges leads the effort. He is experienced, joining Barclays Global Investors in 2007 before it was acquired by BlackRock in 2009. But the strength of this team lies in the systematic active equity group in which it sits. BlackRock arms it with a mountain of data that few rival quantitative shops have the means to acquire. Scores of dedicated researchers use it to unearth investment signals, some of which are incorporated here. Hodges and the team are strict about what enters the strategy, though.

“A late-2022 strategy overhaul shook up this exchange-traded fund’s portfolio. The metamorphosis included slashing 350 holdings to 80 in order to better capture the targeted factors. Before the change, roughly 70% of the portfolio overlapped with the Morningstar US Large-Mid Index, its Morningstar Category benchmark. That ratio slid to 45% afterward and has hovered between there and 50% since. Constraints that tether the fund’s sector allocation, market sensitivity, and individual positions to the market mitigate risk despite the lean portfolio.

“Concentrating the portfolio has worked wonders. The fund generated a 36.6% annualized gain from January 2023 through November 2024, trouncing the category index 29.0% and ranking among the top 2.0% of all large-blend funds.”

—Ryan Jackson, senior analyst

iShares US Equity Factor ETF

Over the past 12 months, this $3 billion ETF rose 20.34%, while the average fund in its category rose 15.84%. The iShares fund, launched in April 2015, has climbed 25.89% over the past three years and 17.29% over the past five.

“IShares US Equity Factor ETF is a light-touch multifactor strategy whose modest factor tilts and low fee give it a mild long-term edge.

“This multifactor strategy, which tracks the STOXX US Equity Factor Index, looks a lot like the US large-cap stock market. It tethers its sector and holding weightings to the broad large-cap market, a common practice among mulitfactor funds that dials back risks. Bands around forecast performance, risk, and factor exposures are very conservative. Roughly 64% of the portfolio overlapped with the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Index as of March 2025, so the fund’s performance shouldn’t differ much from that benchmark for the large-blend Morningstar Category.

“The fund tilts its portfolio toward a handful of equity factors that should aid returns. It emphasizes stocks that exhibit a balance of quality, value, and momentum—factors with proven track records of market-beating performance—rather than those that thrive when one of those qualities is in favor. Quality is the most significant factor here, but targeting the others improves diversification because they normally excel at different times. Quality and momentum traditionally succeed when value slumps, for instance.

“The fund’s low cost is its greatest edge. Its 8-basis-point expense ratio ranks in the large-blend category’s cheapest decile, and low turnover keeps a lid on trading costs that can erode returns. That gives the fund’s cautious factor bets better odds of translating into long-term success.

“The fund has excelled since adopting its current benchmark in June 2022. It climbed 14.3% annualized from that point through March 2025, trouncing the category index’s 13.1% return and average peer’s 11.0% mark. Investors should not always expect that caliber of performance—it’s rare for the fund to beat or trail the index by that much—but, at worst, its modest factor bets yield a diversified portfolio that should stay out of trouble long term.”

—Ryan Jackson, senior analyst

Natixis Funds Trust I US Equity Opportunities Fund

Over the past 12 months, this $1.3 billion fund rose 23.99%, while the average fund in its category rose 15.84%. The Natixis fund, launched in May 2017, has climbed 29.13% over the past three years and 17.31% over the past five.

“The personnel are impressive. In February 2014, Natixis matched two of its affiliates’ best teams to subadvise this fund. Loomis Sayles’ team, under manager Aziz Hamzaogullari, was already plying its trade here. Its reliability and stability over time are admirable. The early-2014 change brought aboard veteran investor Bill Nygren and his deep team from Harris Associates.

“On paper, the Loomis Sayles/Harris mix should be complementary. Loomis Sayles provides consistent, patient exposure to competitively strong growth stocks. It’s the same approach that the team follows on Loomis Sayles Growth. Harris, on the other hand, focuses on valuation. Its use of various tools to determine value allows it to venture occasionally into what Morningstar classifies as growth stocks but which arguably trade at relatively cheap prices. Nygren and his colleagues have used this approach well for more than two decades on Oakmark. In December 2024, they launched a related exchange-traded fund, Oakmark US Large Cap, which even better reflects their contributions here.

“Investors seeking a reliable large-blend portfolio from this mix might be disappointed. For its first seven years under the Loomis Sayles/Harris combination, the fund was in the large-growth Morningstar Category, where it didn’t fit well. A better balance in its growth/value characteristics, however, resulted in a mid-2021 move to the large-blend category, where it’s more competitive. But that balance is tenuous. The subadvisors act independently with little oversight from Natixis, which targets a simple 50/50 allocation that may vary a bit based on performance.

“Overall, this strategy is at its best when it offers a healthy blend of growth and value traits. It’s just not guaranteed to do so.”

—Tony Thomas, associate director

Vanguard Growth and Income Fund

Over the past 12 months, this $16.9 billion fund rose 20.75%, while the average fund in its category rose 15.84%. The Vanguard fund, launched in May 2001, has climbed 25.01% over the past three years and 16.88% over the past five.

“Vanguard Growth and Income benefits from three solid subadvisors, but the combined portfolio doesn’t stand out enough. It earns an Above Average People Pillar rating and an Average Process Pillar rating.

“Despite some personnel changes over the past few years, three strong subadvisors remain. In 2023, Vanguard replaced its in-house quantitative group with Wellington’s fundamental research team to join longtime subadvisors D. E. Shaw and Los Angeles Capital. More recently, in February 2025, D. E. Shaw’s manager Ruvim Breydo abruptly left the firm. Despite the changes, the strategy remains in good hands. Mary Pryshlak heads up Wellington’s impressive team of nine experienced sector analysts, who average roughly 25 years of industry experience; Max Stone and Konstantin Turitsyn took over D. E. Shaw’s sleeve after Breydo’s departure and will continue to work closely with the firm’s quant team to execute its process; Los Angeles Capital veteran manager Hal Reynolds and comanager Kristin Ceglar remain. Each subadvisor runs about a third of the portfolio’s assets.

“The subadvisors each have a sensible approach, but combined, their efforts result in a relatively undifferentiated portfolio. Los Angeles Capital and D.E. Shaw continue to employ quant-based approaches; the former focuses on more predictive factors and signals, while the latter focuses on traditional factors such as value, size, and momentum. Wellington, however, contributes fundamental research, and its addition moved this strategy away from its purely quantitative roots. The combined portfolio doesn’t stand out. Relative to its S&P 500 prospectus benchmark, the March 2025 portfolio’s active share–a measure of how different a portfolio is from a benchmark–was a mere 38%, which was well below the typical large-blend Morningstar Category peer’s 61%. The portfolio’s price metrics, such as P/E, price/sales, price/book, and price/free cash flow, and its profitability metrics, such as return on equity, return on assets, and return on invested capital, are also very similar to the benchmark.

“Such a lack of distinctive traits means performance is also likely to stay pretty close to the benchmark over the long run. Short periods might be different, however. Since Wellington’s arrival in August 2023, for example, the fund’s investor shares gained 33.5% cumulative through May 2025, beating the S&P 500 and the typical large-blend category peer by 1.3 percentage points and 6.4 percentage points, respectively. All told, this is a decent large-blend option.”

—Sbidag Demerjian

Vanguard Mega Cap Index Fund

This $8.6 billion fund has climbed 21.18% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 15.84%. The Vanguard fund, launched in February 2008, has climbed 26.93% over the past three years and 16.81% over the past five.

“Vanguard Mega Cap holds the largest US stocks and charges minuscule fees, making it a solid choice for US large-cap investors.

“The fund replicates the CRSP US Mega Cap Index, which captures the largest 70% of the US stock market. The portfolio weights stocks by market cap, which makes sense for a large-blend fund. This approach harnesses the market’s collective wisdom on each stock’s relative value. Stocks in highly traded markets, like the US large-cap stock market, reflect new information quickly and work well for indexing. That’s why large-blend index funds have outperformed their actively managed peers on average over the long run.

“This portfolio sports much lower turnover than its peers in the large-blend Morningstar Category. That mostly owes to market-cap weighting. Index buffer rules also help reduce unnecessary turnover and trading costs, which come directly out of returns.

“Since the portfolio only holds large-cap stocks, it’s not as diversified as other index funds that hold mid- and small-cap stocks. However, its 190 stock holdings still outnumbered its average category peers by 50 stocks as of March 2025. Likewise, the portfolio holds slightly less in its top 10 holdings, stowing 40% compared with the category average of 51%. The fund’s concentration has increased in recent years, but that’s indicative of the overall US stock market, not a fault in design.

“The fund holdings’ average market cap ranked as one of the highest in the large-blend category, but it looks like its average peer along other dimensions. Its value-growth orientation lined up closely with peers, with a slight tilt toward value. The fund’s sector allocations typically fall in line with peers. Technology represents the widest rift from the average, constituting 35% of this portfolio but just 30% of the category average as of March 2025. Avoiding style or sector bets increases the impact of the fund’s low fee, which should improve its long-term category-relative returns.

“The exchange-traded fund share class outperformed its average peer by 2.81 percentage points over the 10 years through March 2025. The fund holds little cash, which should help it outperform cash-saddled peers during market rallies but hurt when the stock market declines. This fund does not hold mid- or small-cap stocks and will miss out if they outperform large-cap stocks.”

—Brendan McCann, associate analyst

This article was generated with the help of automation and reviewed by Morningstar editors. Learn more about Morningstar’s use of automation.

The author or authors own shares in one or more securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.

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